Oil Spill Victims Plead For BP Payouts

The Mimosa Dancing Girls strip joint on the edge of New Orleans was probably not what BP chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg had in mind when he promised last week that the company would look after the “small people” affected by the Gulf oil spill. But then every day seems to be full of unpleasant surprises for BP.

The Mimosa’s owners have just filed a claim for compensation because the fishermen who make up their clientele can no longer afford to frequent the club.

BP says that most of the 1,500 claims it is handling across the Gulf each day are from those involved in the fishing industry, unable to work because of the fishing ban. But at BP’s New Orleans claims centre, officials say that fishermen no longer make up the bulk of the claimants they see. As well as strip-joint owners, in recent days restaurant waitresses, dock workers, plumbers and electricians have all been through the door.